Charm
by Hopeakaarme
Summary: Akutsu tries to get some sleep after a full day of training. However, thoughts of Taichi won't leave him alone. Stupid brat. Set in New Prince of Tennis. Canon-level shounen ai AkuDan.


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Konomi Takeshi does. I'm merely playing with them for the moment.

A/N: I haven't been writing a lot of fic lately due to school and NaNoWriMo plans. Then, however, I read the 15th chapter of New Prince of Tennis. ...After I was done with my squeeing (which wasn't very soon), I sat down and wrote this fic. Takes place at the end of the day of the matches/start of training.

As to why I was squeeing, for those who haven't read it yet -- well. Let's just say that, well, Akutsu's memories of the day's events in this fic? Canon. Even the part where he tears an iron link fence to take the charm from Dan.

* * *

Charm

Akutsu all but collapsed in his bed, trying to ignore the idiots still talking in the corridor outside the door. The morons were obviously purposefully trying to keep him awake… at least he'd been lucky enough not to have a roommate. Little fuckers were probably just too scared to share with him.

Taichi probably wouldn't have been scared, he thought idly, staring up at the ceiling through the shadows. But then, Taichi was a little brat who had no self-preservation instincts whatsoever. If the kid hadn't been such an idiot, he would have realized that hanging around guys like Akutsu was bad news.

At least the kids he'd seen with Taichi seemed to be more sensible… whoever they were. Akutsu had no idea, nor any interest to find out. There were very few brats he chose to give any attention to. In fact, the number came up to… one. No, two. Yeah, two. Echizen, because he still wanted to beat the oh-so-precious Prince, and Taichi, because… well, because Taichi never left him the hell alone.

Akutsu shifted, grunting quietly, trying to find a comfortable position. His hand brushed against something. Grasping on it and holding it up, he squinted his eyes to see it in the dark. Oh, right. Taichi's little good luck charm.

He still had no idea why he'd accepted it and not just told the brat to fuck off. Or why he'd actually torn the fence apart to take such sentimental crap – well, aside from the fact that such gestures worked well to scare brats. That, and given how bloody stubborn Taichi could be, the kid would have probably tried to climb over the fence next and fallen down and hurt himself and nobody could stand the noise if he started wailing. Yeah, that was the only reason.

Taichi… the kid himself had said that, too, hadn't he. When he'd called out to Akutsu, he'd used his first name instead of the usual 'Dan desu'. Obviously he was picking up things from Akutsu or something, stupid though that was.

Akutsu idly ran his finger over the surface of the little charm. It was pretty well-made from what he could tell, not one of those shabby ones that broke apart the moment you breathed at them. Taichi'd probably spent a while making it, thinking of him… and then actually taken the time to sneak all the way to the training camp, even with all the surveillance cameras and dangerous thugs around. Reckless little moron; his time would have been much better spent training or something. He had a long way to catch up, and it wasn't like Akutsu needed luck. He was going to beat the people there, and he was going to beat them by sheer strength and talent. Whatever Sengoku said, luck didn't matter in things like this.

For a moment he toyed with the thought of just throwing the charm away. It wasn't like Taichi would even know… except he probably would find out, the little data stalker he was, and then he would wail or just do that stupid kicked puppy look of his and not give him a moment's peace. Seriously, if the kid had somehow had the same kind of stubborness on court as he did otherwise, he would've been a regular already.

A quiet beep and the faint glow of the screen of his cell phone stole his attention from the charm, and he let it fall, reaching out for his phone. Opening it, he found a mail in his inbox. He wasn't very surprised to see the sender's name. The only ones who would have dared to email him at this hour were Taichi and the old hag… well, and Kawamura, but only if he actually had something to say. After a moment's thought, Akutsu opened the mail to read it.

"Good night, Akutsu-san. ^_^ Sleep well!"

For a moment Akutsu just stared at his phone. The Hell? Taichi'd actually sent him an email just to say something that inane. What if he'd already been asleep? And in any case, did the kid really think he had the time and energy to read pointless mails with nothing important in them? Apparently so, he concluded. Annoying runt.

"It's bloody late," he typed in response. "Shut the Hell up and go to sleep, Taichi."

Pressing 'send' he then snapped his phone shut, setting it back in its place. More mail or not, he was going to sleep now, he decided, turning on his back and throwing an arm over his eyes. He was exhausted from all this stupid training stuff, damn it.

There was something under his shoulder. The damned foolish charm, of course. Much good luck it gave, bothering him all the time. Just like the person who'd given it. With a sleepily murmured curse, he pushed it under his pillow, out of the way.

Drifting off to sleep, Akutsu found himself wondering in his last waking moments what excuse Taichi would find to visit the following day.


End file.
